Who Is Elsie Sterling Howard?

Public relations consultant, businesswoman, Trustee, volunteer, and philanthropist, Elsie Sterling Howard of Miami Florida appears to be a woman of formidable accomplishment, according to information available on the Internet. She's also the presumptive new owner of the 472-acre Alcatel-Lucent property on Crawford's Corner in Holmdel. 

Elsie Sterling Howard recently stepped down from the Miami Beach Visitors & Convention Authority, which she chaired since 2006. She is a founding co-chair and current chair of the Miami Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Taskforce on Tourism. Appointed by the City of Miami Beach Commission, the MBVCA is a seven member authority whose mission it to encourage, develop and promote the image of Miami Beach locally, nationally and internationally “as a vibrant community and superb tourist destination” according to its website.  She also serves on the Board of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Her interests reach beyond promoting tourism to south Florida.  Sterling Howard is a member of the University of Miami/Sylvester Cancer Center's Board of Governors, chairperson of the Sylvester Cancer Center's Board Services Committee, and founder and chair of the WellBeingWell conference. She is the past chairman of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Committee for the United States Mint. 

As a member of the Board of Trustees for the Council for Educational Change, established by the Florida Annenberg Challenge, Sterling Howard will help administer a sizable $33.4 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation that was awarded to the Miami, FL site for “advancing public well-being through improved communication” according to its website.

Sterling Howard served a five year term as president of her alma mater's International Alumni Society at the University of Pennsylvania, and served for a decade as a Penn Trustee. She chaired the PennFund and is the immediate past chairman of Penn's Alumni Admissions Resource Center. She currently serves on the National Board of Women of Tomorrow.

She has had no shortage of accolades over the years. In 2010 Sterling Howard received the signature Community Leadership award from Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. She was recognized as a “Woman of Substance & Style” by the Miami Project in 2009, and honored as a “Woman Worth Knowing” by the Miami Beach Women's Exhibit in 2005. In 2003 she received both the National Volunteer of the Year/Stewart Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Red Cross Spectrum Award for volunteer leadership. She also received the Halperin Award from the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in November 2004.

Sterling Howard is married to real estate attorney Eugene J. Howard. They have two daughters and five grandchildren. 

A voicemail left for Sterling Howard on Friday was not immediately returned.